Downsizing on Davis Islands

Davis Islands at a glance

Developer D.P. Davis built the islands in the 1920s by dredging bay bottom onto two mud flats known as Little Grassy Key and Big Grassy Key. He announced the project in January 1924 and marketed it as a complete small city, with a business district, apartment houses and hotels planned alongside the homes. Davis drowned in 1926 after going overboard on a voyage to Europe, but the street plan and many of the original Mediterranean Revival buildings survive.

Today the islands sit at the mouth of the Hillsborough River, between Harbour Island and the open bay. Davis Boulevard is the spine, running from the bridge at the north end past Tampa General Hospital and the village shops toward Peter O. Knight Airport and the seaplane basin at the south end.

Sources: Tampa Bay History Center; Davis Islands (Tampa).

Condos and smaller homes on Davis Islands

Be realistic about supply. Single-family homes make up most of what sells here. The smaller options fall into three groups.

• 1920s apartment buildings. Three Davis-era apartment buildings are listed on the National Register of Historic Places as part of the 1989 Mediterranean Revival Style Buildings of Davis Islands listing: the Spanish Apartments at 16 East Davis Boulevard, the Palace of Florence at 45 East Davis Boulevard and the former Palmerin Hotel at 115 East Davis Boulevard. Not every unit in these buildings is condominium ownership, so confirm the ownership structure of a specific unit with a title search or the seller before you make an offer. Expect older layouts, stairs in some buildings and the costs that come with century-old structures.
• Mid-rise condo buildings. Adalia Bayfront is a gated, nine-story building from 1986 with 65 two- and three-bedroom units. Island Chateau at 160 Columbia Drive and The Islander at 91 Davis Boulevard are other condominium buildings on the islands, ranging from a small boutique building to a larger mid-rise. Buildings of three or more habitable stories fall under Florida's milestone inspection law, so read the reports.
• Townhomes and smaller houses. A limited number of townhomes and older single-story houses come up for sale, often on interior streets away from the seawall. Supply is thin and changes often, so a local agent's current listings are a better guide than any fixed list.

If you are weighing a Davis Islands condo against a small house elsewhere in South Tampa, our guide to choosing between a condo, townhome, villa or single-family home lays out the trade-offs, and downsizing to a condo in Tampa covers reserves, milestone inspections and the seven-day review period.

Sources: Mediterranean Revival Style Buildings of Davis Islands (NRHP); Adalia Bayfront building profile.

Getting around from Davis Islands

Road access is by bridge from the Bayshore Boulevard and Platt Street area at the north end, which puts downtown, Harbour Island and Hyde Park close by. That bridge dependence is the trade-off: when the bridges flood or close, the islands are cut off, as residents learned during Helene.

Peter O. Knight Airport, a Works Progress Administration project that served as Tampa's main airport from 1935 to 1945, still handles private and general aviation traffic at the south end. Commercial flights leave from Tampa International Airport across town.

On foot, the Davis Boulevard village is walkable from much of the north half of the islands. The 1.3-mile Davis Islands Trail, a 10-foot-wide paved path finished in 2010, runs from Channel Drive and Davis Boulevard to the airport parking lot, and many residents use it for daily walks and bike rides.

Sources: Peter O. Knight Airport; Davis Islands Trail.

Tampa General Hospital and health care on Davis Islands

Few neighborhoods have a hospital this close. Tampa General Hospital, a Level I trauma center and teaching hospital, fills the northern tip of the islands. After storms flooded low areas around the campus, the hospital installed a deployable AquaFence barrier, first used in 2019. TGH reports that the wall withstood an estimated nine feet of water during Helene, and in 2026 it added 20 storm drains and 18 check valves so surge cannot back up through the drain lines.

Keep one thing in mind: the hospital staying dry does not mean the streets around it will. Plan for how you would reach care if the island roads are underwater.

Sources: Tampa General Hospital, Helene preparations; FOX 13, AquaFence upgrades.

Everyday life on Davis Islands

• The village on East Davis Boulevard. The business district grew around the Bay Isle Building at 238 East Davis Boulevard, designed by M. Leo Elliott. Today it holds restaurants, coffee shops, banks and convenience stores within a few blocks of each other.
• Marjorie Park Yacht Basin. A City of Tampa marina a block from the business district, with monthly and transient slips, fuel and a pump-out station.
• Davis Island Yacht Club and the Sandra W. Freedman Tennis Complex.
• Roy Jenkins Pool, renovated in 2014, and Davis Islands Park with its ball fields.
• The dog beach at the south tip, a fenced off-leash area on the bay.

For a library, the flagship John F. Germany Public Library is downtown at 900 N. Ashley Drive.

Sources: Tour of Davis Islands; City of Tampa, marinas; HCPLC, John F. Germany Public Library.

Storms, flooding and insurance on Davis Islands

This is the section to read twice. Davis Islands is built on dredged fill surrounded by Hillsborough Bay, and on September 26 and 27, 2024, Hurricane Helene pushed an estimated five to eight feet of storm surge into the neighborhood. Crews rescued 47 people, a house off Blanca Avenue burned while firefighters could not reach it through the water and the bridges were closed to vehicles.

Before you buy:

• Look up the address on Hillsborough County's 2026 evacuation zone map at HCFL.gov/HEAT. The county expanded its zones for 2026, so an older listing description may be out of date.
• Check the FEMA flood zone on the FEMA Flood Map Service Center, and ask for the elevation certificate.
• For a condo, ask whether water entered the garage, lobby or ground-floor units during Helene or Milton, what was repaired and whether a special assessment followed.
• Get wind and flood insurance quotes before your inspection period ends.

Our hurricane and flood insurance guide explains NFIP waiting periods, Citizens flood rules and the inspections insurers ask for.

Sources: Tampa Bay Times, Davis Islands surge; FOX 13, rescues on Davis Islands.

Property taxes and local government on Davis Islands

Davis Islands is inside the City of Tampa. Your bill includes City of Tampa, Hillsborough County and school taxes. A homestead exemption and Save Our Homes portability can carry part of your current tax benefit to a new Florida homestead, prorated when the new home is worth less. The new home is reassessed at market value the January 1 after you buy.

Owners 65 and older with household income at or below $38,686 (the 2026 limit) can apply for the City's limited-income senior exemption of up to $50,000, and the City also offers the long-term resident senior exemption. Hillsborough County has separately adopted the same senior exemption for the county portion of the bill, so a qualifying owner sees it applied against both the city and county millage. File Form DR-501SC with the Property Appraiser. Figures reflect current law; Amendment 3 on the November 3, 2026 ballot could change homestead amounts starting in 2027. See costs and money for details.

Questions to ask before you buy on Davis Islands

• Did water reach this unit, its garage or its ground floor during Helene in 2024, and what was replaced?
• Is the building's electrical and mechanical equipment on the ground floor or elevated?
• For a 1920s building on Davis Boulevard, are there National Register or City historic review rules that affect windows, doors or exterior repairs?
• Has the association completed its milestone inspection and structural integrity reserve study, and are reserves funded?
• Which bridge route would you use to evacuate, and how early does the association ask residents to leave?
• How much aircraft noise from Peter O. Knight Airport reaches this block?
• Does the association allow boat slips or kayak storage, and is there a waitlist?

If Davis Islands is on your short list, a local agent who knows these buildings can pull flood history and association documents early. Get matched with a downsizing specialist who works in South Tampa.